James a



(No Model.)

J. A. MOGLELLAN.

END GATE FOR WAGONS.

No. 403,480. Patented May 14, 1889.

N PETERS. Pholmblhngnpher, wash-" um D. c.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JAMES A. MCOLELLAN, OF PRAIRIE CITY, IOWA, ASSIGNOR OF TIVO-THIRDS TO C. IV. FRIEDRICH AND J. F. VANGILDER, OF SAME PLACE.

END-GATE FOR WAGONS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 403,480, dated May 14, 1889.

Application filed December 1'7, 1888. Serial No. 293,901. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that 1, JAMES A. MCOLELLAN, a citizen of the United States of America, residing at Prairie City, in the county of Jasper and State of Iowa, have invented a new and useful Improvement in End-Gates for Tagons, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to that class of endgates that are adj ustably connected with the wagon-box; and it consists in the construction and combination of a supporting and locking device with an end-gate and wagonbox, as hereinafter set forth, in such a manner that the end-gate can be readily locked to the ends of the box, as required to close it, suspended and supported in an inclined position, to be used as a shoveling-board, inverted to rest upon the top of the box, to be used as a seat, and suspended under the box, to be used as an inclined plane or step to facilitate the movements of persons, animals, or other objects to and from the rear end of the wagon-box.

Figure 1 of the accompanying drawings is a side view of the rear portion of a wagonbox, showing the end-gate attached and in a closed and locked position, and dotted lines indicating its position when it is inverted on the top of the box to be utilized as a seat. Fig. 2 shows the end-gate supported in an inclined position as required to be used as a shoveling-board, and dotted lines indicate its position when under the box and in contact with the wagon-axle and available as an inclined plane or step, over which to move objects OE and on the wagon-box. Fig. 3 is a perspective view of one of my devices adapted to retain the end-gate in a closed and locked position, and also in the other three different positions described and illustrated.

A is a wagon-box, and B an end-gate of common form.

C are wings fixed to the ends of the endgate to overlap the sideboa-rds of the box in different positions, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2.

d are levers of the first order, pivoted to the outside of the wings C by means of fulcrums d, fixed to the wings as shown, or in any suitable way.

fare rigid bars pivoted to the ends of the levers d and to the side boards of the wagon= box.

cl are outward bends or stop devices on the ends of the levers d, that overlap the bars f to produce stiff back joints that aid in supporting the end-gate in inclined positions, as shown in Fig. 2.

g are hooks fixed to the bottom portions of the Wings O in such a manner that the free ends of the levers d can be readily pressed 6o forward over the hooks to be retained in vertical positions, as shown in Fig. 1, to lock the end-gate fast to the box in a closed position while the bottom of the end-gate rests upon a cross-piece, h, fixed to the bottom of the box.

The hooks g are preferably made of steel in such a manner that they will bend inward to allow the levers to be pressed forward over them in looking the gate fast.

The bars f have lateral bends, f, that bring them on the top edges of the wings O to aid in retaining the end-board in position as required to be used for a shoveling-board.

I am aware end-gates have been combined with wagon-boxes by means of jointed bars or levers in such amanner that the gate could be placed in the various positions named without detaching any part of the connecting mechanism; but my manner of constructing a lever with a lateral bend at its end adapted to overlap the top edge of the bar to which it is pivoted, and my manner of pivoting the lever to the wings of the end-gate, so that the free end and long arm of the lever will project rearward and downward, to be connected with a hook fixed to same wing on the end-gate for the purpose of locking the end-gate to the wagon, are novel and greatly advantageous in that a person on the ground in rear of the wagon can seize and operate 0 the lever more readily than when the free end of the lever projects upward, and also in that the end of the lever, when the gate is locked thereby, will be in such position that persons and objects will not come in contact therewith as they move and are moved on and off the box.

I claim as my invention- 1. The lever d, having a stop or lateral projection, cl, at its end, and the barf, having a mo 

